Having been in the Metal news lately after frontman Athera had a heart attack and required open-heart surgery (impressively, he insisted that the band’s British tour go ahead with a replacement vocalist and that he would return in no time) Susperia here present album number five, which is quite something considering the band’s Norwegian supergroup status. Former members of Dimmu Borgir, Satyricon and Old Man’s Child, playing groovy Thrash Metal a la Testament, it’s easy to see the appeal, and the good news is that Susperia haven’t dropped the ball yet, although Attitude suffers a little from the ‘attitude’ of the title, not to mention that cover art, which is the sort of thing you might expect from some flash-in-the-pan Metalcore band.

Fortunately, Susperia aren’t just some Metalcore band, and this shows from the quality of the songs on Attitude. Their sound here is best described as Testament meets Disturbed, and whilst the mention of that band will have half of you recoiling from the screen in horror, it’s meant complimentarily. There are many moments on Attitude, Mr Stranger especially coming to mind, where vocalist Athera sounds distinctly like David Draiman – there are few growls from him on this album – and the downtuned riffs have that catchy Modern Metal feel to them. For the most part, however, it’s the Testament that wins out, and there’s even a guest appearance from Chuck Billy that’s almost impossible to pinpoint, such is the similarity in their voices. It’s on the rather kickass Live My Dreams that he appears, the Thrashiest track present and the first time I’ve lost control of my anti-headbanging impulse in ages.

The songs themselves tend towards the catchy, continuing the commercial pull of previous album Cut From Stone, but are often quite heavy, especially Character Flaw and the scream that opens Sick Bastard (provided by Dimmu Borgir’s Shagrath, who has some more vocal lines later in the song). Opening song The Urge kicks the album off in style, some silly ‘all I feel is rage/I want to smash your face’ lyrics not holding it back at all as the faint melodic Black Metal elements speed away in the background and some great soloing from guitarists Cyrus and Elvorn puts the cherry on a killer song. The title track has an engaging Alice In Chains feel to it, especially in Athera’s vocals, and from then on the songs aren’t quite as good, although Althera’s vocals are at his best yet on the slower, more balladic Elegy And Suffering, the Iced Earth-y song from this album! Another Turn and Character Flaw are good enough to keep you listening, and closing song The One After All takes a slightly more epic route. It’s worth mentioning the production; crisply highlighting all the instruments and simply demanding that you play Attitude loudly.

Ultimately, I can see some Susperia fans being a little disappointed with this. It takes absolutely no risks, and the songs can seem a bit samey – quite apart from their having edged a few steps closer to the Modern Metal tag, of course, the band’s ‘no boundaries’ slogan seeming sillier than ever. If you enjoyed Cut From Stone then chances are that you’ll find much to enjoy here; just be prepared for the possibility that it’s not Susperia’s best album.